Random Curiosity

Summary:
Having returned from Albion, Louise gives Henrietta the ring from Wales and tells her what happened. Louise tearfully takes responsibility, but Henrietta thanks her instead of blaming her. Upon returning to the academy, Louise goes to the headmaster to report on what happened. She finds Colbert there requesting some time off so that he can go investigate a legendary dragon at the village of Tarbes. Once Colbert gets Osmond’s approval and leaves, Louise tells the headmaster about Albion and the Reconquista. A curious Louise then asks him about the descendent of the Void, even though she admits to not remembering who said it. Osmond recalls that Void is the legendary lost element and even mentions the Gandalfr. Back in her room, as she is getting dressed, Louise feels that Saito couldn’t be the legendary familiar. He enters the room when she’s still not completely dressed, causing Louise to get flustered. When Saito complains about how there’s more laundry, Louise yells at him, but then wonders why they’ve returned to being like this after that kiss. Things are made worse when Louise’s panties fall off because the elastic broke. Saito remembers how he had heard a snapping when he was doing laundry previously, causing Louise to pull out her whip again. The two get into an argument that ends in Saito leaving and both of them pissed at each other.
Outside, Saito takes out his anger by kicking the giant pot that is now his bath. It is there that he sees Siesta again, dressed to leave because she’s going to be visiting home. In talking with her, Saito re-raises the topic of Siesta’s great-grandfather and the other world. She tells him a story about two dragons, just like Colbert did, except in Siesta’s story, one of the dragons disappeared into a solar eclipse and the other one was her great-grandfather’s and is now a family heirloom enshrined somewhere. Saito immediately asks Siesta to take him with her so that he can go investigate this dragon. Kirche, Tabitha, and Guiche overhear the two of them talking, and Kirche is really interested. Louise meanwhile finds herself alone and thinking about how to apologize for earlier. However, she is shocked to see Saito with Siesta riding horseback out of the school gates. Louise learns from the cook that Siesta is going home to Tarbes, and although she’s angry at Saito at first, she soon remembers that she’s heard the name Tarbes somewhere.
Having reached that village, Siesta brings Saito a map and mentions that the treasure is actually a dragon’s celestial robe that her great-grandfather used to fly here from the other world. The two then get interrupted by Kirche, Tabitha, and Guiche who are here for the treasure. They arrive at a cave and go inside, only to find someone else there too. But as it turns out, that person is just Colbert, and he’s brought Louise. In fact, he’s searching for the same thing they are. Louise makes it a point to tell Saito that she came here as an assistant to Colbert and not because she’s chasing him. The group soon makes their way out of the cave and into a forest on the other end where they find a large shed. As Colbert is opening the lock, Tabitha and Saito notice an inscription on a nearby stone monument that says “Navy Ensign Sasaki Takeo.” Saito is able to read it because it’s written in his native Japanese. By now, Colbert has unlocked the door and gone inside where they find something they’ve never seen before. Saito can’t believe what it is: an airplane - a Zero.
Having put the pieces together, Saito admits that he felt something nostalgic when he first met Siesta. He now knows that her black hair means that she is Japanese. In other words, Saito and Siesta’s great-grandfather are from the same world. With the Zero, Colbert suddenly says that Saito might be able to return to his former world. He recalls that the story said one of the dragons disappeared in a solar eclipse, but wonders why the other one didn’t make it. Based on what Siesta tells him, Colbert reasons that it’s because this Zero missed the timing on the solar eclipse. When the solar eclipse ended, the Zero couldn’t return to its former world. However, this also means that if Saito were to take off into a solar eclipse, he might end up back in his own world, at least at least that’s what Colbert guesses. Louise has been shocked through this entire conversation because of the prospect of Saito being gone. Meanwhile, Henrietta goes to see her mother, Grand Duchess Marianne, about the stolen letter. Marianne reveals that she has already received an announcement that the engagement has been broken off. Henrietta blames her own actions for what happened, but her mother already knows how much pain Henrietta has gone through after losing the man she had feelings for. As Henrietta is crying in her mother’s arms, a man rushes up to them with something important to report.
Back at the academy, Saito and company have brought the Zero onto school grounds. As Saito is thinking about fuel, he recalls the dragon’s blood that Colbert had shown him before. When he gets it from Colbert, the professor thinks that there’s no mistake that it’s dragon’s blood, but Saito corrects him because it’s actually gasoline. Afterwards, Saito climbs into the cockpit and seems to recognize the controls. Derfflinger reminds him that it’s because he is able to use any weapons. He notices that Louise is standing in the distance, staring at him, but when she sees him looking back, she walks off. On her mind is still the thought of him being gone. As Louise approaches the front of the school, Guiche rides in on horseback and reports the bad news: as a new nation, Albion has changed it’s name to Reconquista and declared war on Tristein. At that very moment, Cromwell, Fouquet, and Waldo are discussing their plans to conquer Tristein. Everything is set to begin in three days - the day of the solar eclipse.

Note: What’s written on the side of the Zero is 「辰」 (tatsu), aka. the zodiac sign of the dragon.

Preview:

Two main things going on this week as we head towards the final episode. One is Saito and company finding the Zero and the subsequent possibility of Saito returning home. The other is Saito’s relationship with Louise. As expected, it hasn’t changed much on the surface - and I don’t think it ever will because of Saito and Louise’s personalities (and because it makes them more fun to watch). But on the inside, Louise is now thinking about Saito a lot, especially that kiss. If only her attitude towards him was just a little better.
Given that they’ve only got one episode to finish things up, I’m guessing that Cromwell/Fouquet/Waldo will be stopped by a combination of the Zero and Louise’s legendary void magic. Saito will also be presented with the option of returning home, but I doubt he’ll actually be able to do it (whether it’s because of his choice or because of the circumstances that develop). Regardless of what happens, it feels like they’ll be hard pressed to fit everything into one episode in a satisfactory way, but I’m hoping that it can be done. They only need to show Louise’s true powers, defeat Cromwell and company, get the ring back, resolve Saito and Louise’s relationship, resolve Saito leaving (before the solar eclipse ends), and maybe give Henrietta a happy ending too. That’s doable…maybe.